LAKE ELSINORE: Recall campaign can seek signatures

Proponents in a campaign to oust Lake Elsinore Councilman Daryl Hickman are now free to seek signatures in support of a recall election, City Clerk Virginia Bloom said last week.

Bloom certified the campaign's Petition for Recall on April 25, giving the proponents until Aug. 23 to collect the number of signatures of registered Lake Elsinore voters required to force a recall election. The campaign needs valid signatures from at least 20 percent of the city's 16,488 registered voters, which amounts to 3,298 voters.

Getting the recall on the November ballot, however, would require the petition to qualify by Aug. 10, according to the
city clerk
.

That means the campaigners would have to submit the petition with an adequate number of signatures at least a month before Aug. 10, because the Riverside County registrar of voters needs up to 30 days to verify the signatures.

"We'll try," recall campaign leader Chris Hyland said. "We're trying to hit that deadline. One way or another, there will be an election."

Hyland, 83, a longtime community activist, has been critical of
Hickman
's positions for several years, including his support for a recall aimed at then-Councilman Thomas Buckley.

Buckley survived the
February 2010 election
, in which a majority of voters rejected the recall. Nine months later, though, he lost to Hickman by just 17 votes in the
City Council election
for two seats, with Brian Tisdale receiving the most votes.

The spark for the effort to remove Hickman came from the council's
3-2 vote
on March 13 to fire City Manager Bob Brady. Hickman, Councilwoman Melissa Melendez and Councilman Peter Weber cast the votes to terminate his employment, while Mayor Tisdale and Councilman Bob Magee opposed the move.

"What got me angry and why I became involved in this thing was when they fired Bob Brady," said Hyland, a 25-year resident. "Bob has been the best city manager since I've lived here.

"He's the most honest city manager that we've had, and he's done a good job. Their reason for getting rid of him did not make sense."

The council members who voted to fire Brady said they were not satisfied with his job performance and contended the city had stagnated during his seven-year tenure.

The action prompted an outpouring of support from the community for Brady, and anger at the three council members.

In addition to Hyland's movement, a group of Brady supporters, including many of the city's civic and business leaders, united as the nonprofit A Better Lake Elsinore to protest the city manager's removal and keep an eye on future political developments.

Contrary to popular perception, the group is not endorsing Hickman's recall at this time, its leader, Harv Ryan, said during a recent City Council meeting.

Should the recall faction succeed in getting its cause on the Nov. 6 ballot, voters could be deciding the political fates of all three Brady detractors on Election Day.

Melendez's term, her first in office, expires at the end of this year, as does Weber's term. The
council appointed Weber
in the fall to replace Councilwoman Amy Bhutta, who
resigned
unexpectedly at the end of July and moved back to Minnesota.